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Rules tightened for council-funded newspapers
BBC News web site
DATELINE: 27/6/10
The government wants to tighten the rules on council-run free newspapers. Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles said independent local papers should not face competition from "propaganda on the rates". Mr Pickles wants to stop what he called "town hall Pravdas" passing themselves off as independent journalism.
The Local Government Association said most council publications come out a few times a year and are not serious competitors for advertising revenue.The government will hold a consultation on the best way to tighten the rules. The Newspaper Society has welcomed the government's move to tighten the council publicity code, saying local papers fulfilled a vital democratic role.
Mr Pickles said: "The previous government's weakening of the rules on town hall publicity not only wasted taxpayers' money and added to the wave of junk mail, but has undermined a free press.
"Councils should spend less time and money on weekly town hall Pravdas that end up in the bin, and focus more on frontline services like providing regular rubbish collections.
"In an internet age, commercial newspapers should expect over time less state advertising as more information is syndicated online for free.
"The flipside is our free press should not face state competition from propaganda on the rates dressed up as local reporting."
Most council publications are only distributed a handful of times a year and are not significant competitors for advertising revenue
BBC media correspondent Torin Douglas said that in recent years, council-funded newspapers had grown in number and frequency.
Meanwhile independent papers, meant to hold local councils to account, have been hit by a drop in advertising and sales.
The government says publicity can communicate council business effectively, but some council papers publish TV listings and sports coverage, and compete for local advertising.
This undermines commercial publishers, our correspondent added. Ministers also want to ensure that any council publicity provides value for money.
According to a Communities and Local Government department spokesman, some councils "have done better than others" in handling their publications.
Last modified: Tuesday, June 29, 2010
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World Press Freedom Day
More reporters are currently imprisoned in Turkey than in any other country in the world. Only a matter of weeks ago lawyers failed to persuade a Turkish court to release a 76-year-old journalist from a Turkish internet news station.
World Press Freedom Day on Friday May 3, 2013 is being marked in Britain by a rally to highlight the dangers facing journalists in Turkey and in this podcast, Nicholas Jones speaks to Barry White, Organiser at the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom, and Sam Bamford, the TUC's policy officer for Eastern Europe and Africa about the importance of a campaign to highlight international press freedom.
The World Press Freedom Day rally is being staged by the National Union of Journalists at the NUJ head office, Gray’s Inn Road, London WC1 on Thursday May 2, 6pm-8pm.
DATELINE: 27/4/13
UK launch of EU media campaign
DATELINE: 13/3/13
The UK launch of a 'European Citizens' Initiative' calling for EU rules against concentration of media power will take place on Thursday March 21 from 11:00am – 12:30pm in Committee Room 4A at the House of Lords, London. Guest speakers will include actor and activist Hugh Grant (pictured), media consultant Claire Enders, Professor Steven Barnett, Barry McCall (President of the NUJ) and Marc Gruber (Director of the European Federation of Journalists).
A European Citizens' Initiative is an official petition, like a Downing Street petition. If it succeeds in gathering a million signatures across the EU, the Commission is obliged to respond.
This petition calls for the EU to act to protect media pluralism and press freedom.
CPBF Annual General Meeting
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Saturday 13 July 2013 from 10.00am
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MEDIA MANIFESTO
DATELINE: 26/3/10
The media’s job is to inform and entertain us but we rely on them too to tell us what our rulers and representatives are up to. In the run-up to the Iraq war the government used spin and disinformation in the media to create panic and mislead people. The truth is coming out now, but we need stronger, more independent media to be able to scrutinise governments and make informed choices.
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